About This Book

Our canine friends make us smile every day with their crazy antics, their loving companionship, and their amazing intuition. You will enjoy reading all the 101 heartwarming and often hysterical stories in this book about our canine companions and the magic they bring to our lives. This collection will make you laugh and touch your heart and after reading the stories we know you'll say, "The dog did what?"

More from Chicken Soup for the Soul

Inspired by Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Did What? by Amy Newmark; foreword by Miranda Lambert

Our dogs amaze us with their personalities, their intuition, and sometimes even their wisdom! Of course, they sometimes amaze us with their misbehavior as well, but we forgive them, and we often love telling stories about their misdeeds after the fact! The 101 stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dog Did What? are all about the special role our dogs play in our lives, and they’ll help you see your own dog in a new light. Here are five ways to get the most from your relationship with your dog.

1. Don’t be afraid to trust your dog with your other pets. Eight-year-old Kelsey Kate Bankert worried about having her hamster, Quincy, near the family’s Blue Heeler, Skeeter, because of the dog’s hunting instincts. But when Quincy rolled around in his hamster ball, Skeeter only watched, curious. Then the hamster somehow went missing, and Kelsey feared she would find Quincy’s lifeless body somewhere in the house. But almost week after the hamster’s disappearance, Skeeter approached Kelsey with something in her mouth. It was a still living, unharmed Quincy! "Skeeter knew we were worried when he was gone," Kelsey writes, "and she knew that, as a member of the family, she should help bring him back."

2. Remember that a rescue dog can rescue you. Amanda Kemp begrudgingly took in her sister’s two Beagles, saving them from going to a shelter. But boy did she hate their howling! Then, one cold night, Amanda’s husband Matt realized something was wrong when the dogs kept howling at the fireplace. He investigated and saw thick, black smoke billowing from the chimney! They all got out of the house unharmed because of the dogs’ warning. The fire had started within the walls, which takes longer to set off smoke alarms. Even though they lost part of their second floor, Amanda and Matt were grateful because it could have been a lot worse. And they had a new appreciation for those howling Beagles. "When guests come by and wonder how we can stand the canine opera," Amanda writes, "I just smile and shrug. It’s music to my ears."

3. Respect your dog’s intuition. Lee Rothberg’s husband denied that he had anything more serious than acid reflux when he was in great discomfort one night. But their yellow Lab, Sophie, convinced him when she did something out of the ordinary—she brought him all her toys, one by one, and then refused to leave his side. The couple had recently read that Labs could smell disease, and that convinced Lee’s husband he might have something more serious. They rushed to the hospital and learned he was having a heart attack. Thanks to Sophie, they’d gotten to the hospital in time to treat him and prevent further damage to his heart.

4. Let your dog help you with human relationships. As a newly blended family, Diana Lynn, her husband and their combined three boys were struggling to learn their new roles and find common ground. Then they got a puppy they named Barney. The three boys all gathered around the puppy, watching him, laughing, and calling his name. The kids even started joking with each other and their parents about this tiny pup. Barney was bringing them all together! "He didn’t know he was part of a blended family. He just knew we were his family," Diana writes. "He didn’t see a stepbrother or stepparent. He just saw a family—his family."

5. Being responsible for a dog can help people. Soon after adopting a mini Dachshund puppy, Brenda Nixon realized he wasn’t meant for her but for her parents. She’d been worrying about her aging parents. They seemed lonely and depressed despite a busy schedule. And instead of enjoying their golden years, they were stressed, and that made them bicker with each other. Brenda realized the puppy would actually help them during this stressful time in their life. When she and her husband dropped off the puppy, she writes, "We talked, laughed, tried different names, and watched their puppy explore his new home. There were no ugly arguments." Next time she called her parents, Brenda heard a lightness in her mother’s voice as she talked about the puppy they named Tylo. "The anger, loneliness, and fretting disappeared, replaced with Tylo stories," Brenda writes.